CH #11 - Cliffhanger

"What's up with this weird summer?" She asked herself, noticing how uncharacteristically warm the day was.

It was a day very similar to yesterday. The sun was shining brightly, making the atmosphere more pleasant and a little less cold. The wind was blowing smoothly, not being strong enough to lift skirts, which in itself was a relief to students who abandoned their jeans to better withstand the strange peak of heat that grasped the entire state. The movement of people was usual, if not a little sparser.

That was all a little too weird to be ordinary in her mind. It wasn't usual to be so hot at this time of year, even though summer was just around the corner.

"It seems like the sun decided to get closer to the earth..."

She arranged her hair to regulate the temperature between the straight brown strands, blowing lightly into the gap between her breasts as she pulled forward the fabric of the green dress, full of white dots all around.

It didn't help that she was inside the cafeteria right now, which, being lined with glass doors and panes on all sides, didn't let any of the slightly cooler air flow inside. To add to that, the internal heat was made greater by the amounts of coffee and tea that were brewed by the second.

"I think I'd better find a place outside..."

Trying to speed up her steps, the girl ran through the process of choosing what she was going to eat that early morning. She had woken up too late to make breakfast, so it was a joy to have a place like this so short a distance from her home.

Every day, what woke her was the smell of sweets and coffee that the establishment always made available with such care when preparing. Things there were so good that even if she could eat at home, preferred to find some excuse that would allow her to come to the place full of sweet delights.

"Oh, I think this is fine! I'll take some things for the club members too!" She smiled to herself, analyzing the content she had acquired.

Her selection was two pairs of natural sandwiches, three pieces of chocolate cake, and several smaller sweets of different flavors and appearances, all looking perfect, each in its own way. Accompanied by all that, she also ordered two slices of strawberry pie that was exposed on the way, even after having told herself more than once that the money left for the week couldn't buy anything else.

Without much ado, the emerald-eyed girl quickly paid for everything, surrendering to the cool breeze outside, hoping it could stop the already quite intense sweating.

Taking a deep breath to expel another fraction of the heat, she chose a table a little farther away from the others. It wasn't like there was much movement at the moment, anyway.

The only problem was that, in her desperate search for the coolest looking spot, Emily didn't realize what was just below her. Combined with her haste, the fact that she was holding a tray with some pastries and a cup of coffee didn't let her see what was right under her neck.

... And in the end, all she felt was the impact of something colliding intensely.

"Ow...!"

But although she was inattentive when in her most natural state, Emily reacted with speed when events changed scope. Realizing she had just collided with someone, the Attwood acted quickly and precisely, gripping the tray as tightly as possible and lifting what she was carrying over her head.

Only two drops of coffee fell to the nearby floor. After the scare and seeing that the hot beverage had not been spilled on that person, Emily placed the tray on the nearest table, trying to help her "victim".

"I'm really sorry... I didn't mean to, I swear!" She emphasized that specific part intensely. "You didn't get hurt, did you?!"

The girl with brown hair and green eyes bent down, hurriedly gathering up the papers that had been dropped on the floor because of her lack of care. In the city of Elderlog, tripping over someone is extremely rare, and given that, it was said in a myth that if two people trip, their destinies will intertwine like two threads in a knot, and from there, anything can happen, be it a happy marriage or becoming fierce enemies for life.

When she finished collecting the things that had fallen from the wooden floor, Emily compiled them carefully, before handing them to the other.

"Here they are. I'm sorry... I didn't see where you were going and I ended up colliding with you! My name is Emily. What about you? What is your name?"

The other girl received her handful of papers in utter silence, turning her face away from Emily as if she didn't want to be seen by the taller girl.

The glimpse she got of her face was very short, but just looking at her in those few milliseconds, Emily could tell she was a very shy girl. She remembered seeing her once or twice, but never paid her enough attention. She was a small girl, whose top of the head rested almost perfectly against Emily's shoulder.

Her most striking feature, however, was the hair that posed thick, voluminous and colored with the colors of the setting sky, arranged in the shape of springs and falling in immense quantities down the sides of her head, expanding in all directions like electricity in a glass sphere of plasma.

Paying attention to all that, and noticing the apparent discomfort for perhaps having been overly invasive, she just smiled sweetly and kindly, soon trying to comfort the shyest one.

"It's okay. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to! Sorry for pushing." She nodded. "Once again, I'm sorry! It's just that I'm a bit too easily distracted, you know?"

Again there was no answer, and the girl refused to look at her. Realizing it was far more serious than she thought it was the Attwood rose to her feet.

In that place, you had the disparity in the form of human beings. It was difficult to carry on a conversation when that was the situation. Emily could be classified as the very incarnation of extroversion, enjoying interacting with other people and having fun with them... But that girl? She was the complete opposite of all that.

Elderlog was about to enter its busiest season all year. Tourists invaded the place in significant numbers, all attracted by the Loggers' Festival. The event drew people from all over Montana, as well as from other states, and in rare cases, even from overseas. Everyone gathered to celebrate, witness the history of the place and remember the life of Enrico Attwood from beginning to end. Eventually, some fell in love with the calm and heavenly way of life, and ended up defining the small town as a new home.

Everywhere you would look, little flags were already hanging on the houses, in rows that ran from one side of the streets to the other. Commerce gradually heated up, and popular rehearsals for local dance performances filled the scenic landscape with color and sound.

"The town gets very beautiful at the time of the festival, don't you think?" She took this opportunity to try and strike up a conversation one last time.

Nothing but a shy nod of acknowledgment was the response Emily received. At least that little answer was interpreted as a good thing. The taller girl could feel a certain compassion for the smaller one's wish not to speak.

But looking around, she saw something that looked nothing like that bright, beautiful day. From a distance, a being that represented the antithesis of all these things slowly took shape, coming closer, step by step. She waved to that person, who, as usual, took a while to realize his name was being called.

"Hey! Ryan...! Hey!" She waved to the guy across the street, who cycled his way to school.

Hearing his name, he paused for a moment, causing her to chuckle openly from seeing the way he looked back when noticed her gaze directed at his figure, as if in doubt about the "Ryan" who was called to actually be him.

"Hey, dunderhead! It's you I'm talking to!"

Realizing that he was indeed the one she had called, Ryan raised his eyebrows in some surprise, crossing the street as he looked both ways, no matter how low the chances of any vehicle passing by were.

"Ah... Good morning, Emily. What's up? Did you call me for some reason?"

Emily looked at him like a friend who just made the other stumble like a prank, revealing the real reason behind his call.

"I think you know why I called you here, Ryan..."

Emily then made a point of embodying a movie-actress spirit, communicating a level of suspense you wouldn't expect from a cafeteria interaction.

"Don't try to hide anything from me. I know every single thing you did." She said, pointing an index finger at the boy.

"You know everything…? About what?" Ryan started to back away.

"You naughty liar! I know everything you've done! How could you do that? How could you step on my feelings like that... After everything we've been through together, Ryan?!"

People in the cafeteria began to watch them with some attention, and their sharp, judgmental gazes in Ryan's direction left him even more cornered about acting.

"What are you talking about, Emily...?" His voice shook, trying to find a place in space where people wouldn't look at him with all that disapproval.

"What do you mean 'what am I talking about'? Of course you know what I'm talking about!" She continued to aim aggressiveness at him, forcing the boy to move backwards until he collided with a chair.

Ryan realized that there was only one strategic exit from there – running. He quickly scanned the surroundings, calculating the route with the least distance towards the other side of the street, and quickly took it.

"You won't run away...!" Emily began to chase him in response.

But before finally leaving, she briefly resumed her more pleasant mood, turning back to say goodbye to the girl who had just received an immensely intense first impression of her.

"Ciao!" She smiled in a satisfying way. "Maybe we'll see each other some other day!"

And so, Emily began to chase that boy, who was trying to take as much distance as possible while trying to act as if nothing was happening.

... ... ...

"How weird can people in this town be?" the little girl mentally asked, holding up her handful of papers.

She bit the underside of her lip, resenting the fact that she couldn't do anything about her lack of power. Fact was she was too hungry to be able to do a single thing.

"Well, at least now I can reenergize in peace."

She picked up a paper bag filled to the top with assorted sweets, cakes, and salty pastries from a table. Her metabolism sped up several times and required all that immense amount of energy if she wanted to maintain her perfect shape for longer than a couple hours.

But since she didn't have that energy at the time, was left to use this fragile and ugly form one more time, which was pretty unpleasant, not to mention that because she didn't have the power, wouldn't be able to use the basics of her powers before soon fainting.

"That girl... She was very disrespectful."

In her mind, she calculated what ways she could make her pay for that lack of respect for her image. No one had the right to just bump into her and act like it was normal.

"...But I think it's better not to worry about her...For now."

She had other priorities in mind, and the list of people in need of the hammer of justice was still long – so it wouldn't hurt to put her name at the bottom of that list.

Still, one thing was for sure – her revenge would come, and none of those listed would escape.

... ... ...

"Excellent...! Now half the town thinks I'm a cheater...! Thank you so much for this, Emily!"

The young woman just ignored the boy's sarcastic comment, running up to him and wrapping his right arm between hers. Anyone who saw them would think they were a fine pair of lovers.

"Let me go...! And by the way, you're drying your sweat on me...!" Ryan tried to pull away.

"Don't you think we look like a great pair, Ryan? Come on, honey! Don't be like that to me, I love you!" She made sure to say it out loud, so that everyone around could hear and draw the only possible conclusion with a sentence like that.

"No, we don't, and this relationship is clearly abusive!" Ryan almost shouted those words. "Whatever that was, it wasn't cool! ... And would you please let me go?"

Realizing that maybe she'd gone a little too far, Emily complied with the boy's demands, joining him for the rest of the way to school as any normal person would.

"Ehh… I'm sorry. It's just that you have interesting reactions, you know?" She tried to mask her joke under not-so-bad intentions.

But Ryan didn't buy it, still a bit sulky about the scene he was involved in and mourning his loss of reputation with the locals. That sort of thing tends to spread quite a bit in a context where almost everyone knows each other.

And the result of that tasteless joke would spread like an infection, making that the image of who he was shared by everyone in a short time.

Just thinking about it made him shiver...

"Look, Ryan... I'll tell you the truth in case people ask." She tried to calm the boy's tumultuous mind. "I always take responsibility for the things I do."

Ryan, for his part, couldn't bring himself to really hate her. Something told him that was just her usual way of behaving.

As long as you don't repeat that ever again..."

Emily smiled widely, noticing how that guy was, at heart, just someone with a big heart. That thought filled her heart with a unique kind of comfort.

Since that day in the abandoned house, Ryan had become someone she wanted to consider a friend, and although the girl thought of him that way, she didn't know what the situation was like on the other side. Maybe he just thought Emily Attwood was a crazy hyperactive girl who couldn't control herself?

Not knowing his opinion, it was only natural that she tried to get closer, and even though it wasn't the exact definition of pleasant, that first contact made her realize that the two could indeed be good friends.

Once that strange situation was over, the two don't take long to make their way to school. A few streets away is the building where they will spend the rest of their day in. Emily knew that Ryan won't try to start anything, so she does it herself.

"So, Ryan... Are you enjoying the town?"

"I have nothing to complain about."

The boy's responses were in a monotonous, evasive tone devoid of emotion, composed of quick sentences and short sentences, which exposed nothing more than the purest form of poutiness – it was clear that he still felt hurt by the joke. Even that being the case, the girl didn't give up trying to talk.

"Since you're new here, how about we go out this Saturday and I can show you around town? You won't find anyone better than me for the task!"

"I do not need this. I can find out my way around for myself."

For her, those sentences were like a couple of blows straight to the heart... Emily looked at the floor, making a rather comical expression as she opened her mouth and eyes wide. She just got rejected in such a simple way.

"Uh... Alright... And you thought about the clubs?"

"No."

"Oh please Ryan! Pay at least one visit to my literature club! You will like it so much!"

"After all that, I'm seriously considering declining the offer."

Realizing the gravity of the situation, the girl appealed to the most powerful argument she could think of. Opening her paper bag, the young woman of bright green eyes pulled out a pink cupcake, decorated with several small sugar stars.

"Here! You can have this one."

"Seriously... Trying to buy me with a sweet?" Ryan raised an eyebrow. "I don't really like sweets that come with icing."

"How can you not like this beautiful cupcake?!" Emily questioned forcefully. "This is literally the greatest delicacy your mouth will ever taste...! And will you just deny it like that, even though I'm trying so hard not to eat this in front of you and leave nothing of it?!"

"I don't want it. In fact, I didn't eat any of those candies you offered me yesterday."

"So I gave you those chocolates in vain?!"

"Well, it wasn't exactly in vain..."

Yesterday, Emily offered him a couple of chocolate candies during the morning break, which occurred at 9:00. He didn't eat them, handing them to Cast and Lira right after receiving.

"I tried to reject it, but you quickly disappeared down the hall. As I didn't want to eat them, I gave them to other people."

"My chocolates... The chocolates I could have eaten..."

Emily then grabbed Ryan's right arm, displaying the closest expression to true hatred he could imagine. The Attwood shook him intensely as she spoke in an aggressive tone.

"You… You ungrateful bastard! I decided not to eat those two just to keep them for you, and that's what you do in return?! Offer them to other people?!"

Luckily, there was no one else on the street but them, and with that, that shouting spread through the place unheard. Emily let go of Ryan's arm, crossing her own arms around her body, staring at the floor as if she wanted to cry.

The boy tried to take that easy, but soon gave up on the idea when he noticed real tears forming around the girl's eyes, indicating that she was going to cry for real.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't think it meant so much to you." He tried to think of something to say. "It's just that..."

He stopped himself from finishing, thinking he couldn't just say something as clichéd as 'I've never gotten chocolates from anyone before', as much as that was true.

"It's just… You know what? Forget it. But you don't have to cry about it...!"

At that point, he didn't know what else to say and was sure he was making a mess of the words. Swallowing his embarrassment, Ryan thought of the best thing to do.

"Look... Maybe soon I'm going to visit your club. So... I'm sorry."

... ... ...

"Hey Ryan..."

"Ah! What?"

"You don't have a pair for the festival, right?"

"Hmm... I've been thinking about it, and I don't know if I'll go..."

"Oh... But why?! Literally the entire place will be there!"

"I was never the type of person who likes to be in events of any kind."

Emily crossed her arms and looked up, showing sarcasm.

"Look at me, I'm Ryan! I'm too good for popular events and also way superior to other people!" She said, making her voice deeper in an attempt to imitate him.

"I'm not like that."

"Yes you are! It's the image you transmit! If you tried to talk and smile more, you would be much more charismatic... That's why you don't have a girlfriend!"

"I just arrived in the town. If anything, having a girlfriend this early would be weird and not the opposite."

For a moment, she forgot that the boy was a newcomer, which nullified the argument.

"Well... That's true... But you won't get one if you keep behaving like that! Not to mention that your 'newcomer' status will wear off soon."

As she said this, Emily's eyes were closed, so she couldn't see the way ahead. When she resumed vision, realized that Ryan was not beside her

"Ryan…? Ryan!"

"I am here. We're already at school."

Turning back, she realized she had gone beyond the entrance gate to Elderlog High. Trying to cover up the gaffe she committed in front of everyone, she marched like a soldier towards Ryan.

"I haven't finished scolding you yet! Do not run away from me!"

***

"Geez... That Ryan... He should respect me, after all, I'm older than him!" Emily thought, hurriedly opening the door to her locker, whose ID number was 317.

After pulling open the small metal door, she took her books out of there, counting a total of three. From a distance, she observed her classroom where math classes would soon take part. As much as her attitude and appearance didn't live up to her age, Emily was now 18 and proudly bragged about it in front of others.

The descendant of the town's founder was the highlight of the classes she participated. Emily managed to excel at literally everything she did, sometimes even without trying. Her relaxed, light-hearted posture was envied by some and admired by many.

She was quite aware of her own beauty, so she didn't care for those who tried to make less of it. Not everyone in life would have the desire to follow her path, and the awareness of that made up her self-esteem.

Inside the closet, on the top shelf, rested one of the greatest passions of her life: books. From a very young age, she played in the library, and as a result, developed a great love for the stories written on the pages of paper. It could be said that the peaceful atmosphere of the city only boosted the desire for new experiences.

However, she did not want to leave the place. Elderlog managed to be amazing in its own way, exciting in a unique fashion... Even if terrifying.

At the time, the young woman continued to accumulate information about the series of disappearances of beautiful and young women that had already lingered unresolved for half a decade. Overnight, the quiet huddle of houses and shops turned into a suspense-filled plot in which she herself could become a victim of the great terror that roamed the corners of streets and alleys.

Why risking her very life so much? The answer was simple. She wanted to discover the truth behind everything and write it in a book of her own authorship, creating a story capable of generating shivers in all readers, combined with the fact that it was entirely based on real events, representing the very reality of the place. In short, her dream was to bring the small town of Elderlog into the eyes of the entire world.

Also because of this passion for books and reading itself, she took the initiative to create a club. In fact, the very idea of ​​the school having clubs in general was suggested by her. Currently, she was the president of the Literature Club, a group that shared the same passions and wanted to spread their love for the subject. The space contained only four members, all being girls.

There were two books stored in the closet. She pulled them out carefully, thinking about how close she was to finishing both of them. Only the cover of the first one was visible, being a large pink writing, whose words show "The Lost Dragon". She didn't used to like epic adventures, preferring something closer to the real world, yet this one book managed to catch whatever little attention she had to give.

Upon entering the hallway, was immediately greeted by all her classmates from that class. Everyone there admired her figure, which is also to say that she was quite popular with both boys and girls. At least twice a week, letters with confessions of love and exaltations of her beauty used to appear on her desk, being written by several young men and one or two young women who wished to confess their apparent feelings.

But, to the misfortune of her admirers, Emily's thoughts were different, and that wild heart beat on another frequency – that of adventures, of cliffhangers and the smell of paper – the pulses of a mystery to be solved, of an enigma to be unraveled.

... And as usual, that was no different day. Once again, there was a letter on the table she used to occupy.

"Must be another one of those letters..." She thought, inspecting the object.

However, as soon as she stared, Emily realized that there was something odd about this letter. Unlike all the others, which used to be painstakingly decorated with cute designs of red hearts and other things reminiscent of romance, this one was morbidly simple, being just a sealed wrapper that had no name or anything else.

"What must this be?"

As might be expected for a person like her, the fact that it had no information at all only got her attention even more, and guided by the natural curiosity inherent to her adventurous and investigative personality, Emily undid the collage that held the envelope closed.

"…Huh…?! But what is this...?" She stared in amazement at the contents of the envelope.

She poured some of it into her cupped right hand. It was a fine white dust that looked like wheat flour or yeast.

Observing it, she soon thought it was a prank or some kind of joke, after all, what is the point of sending flour or something similar to other people, and above all, inside a letter envelope?

"Weird..."

However, she decided not to get rid of it. Instead, simply slapped her hands on the trash can to clean the excess and tucked the envelope into a pocket of her dress. Not even she knew the reason why. It was just an odd desire to keep it, as if it were something of value.

It was almost as if the object held a great mystery.